


"Worthy By Who's Standard?"

by Bucket_Burns



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes can wield Mjolnir, Canon Compliant until it's not, Endgame Battle from Bucky's point of View, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Minor Character Death, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, POV Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers Can Wield Mjolnir, stevebucky if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:14:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22151629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bucket_Burns/pseuds/Bucket_Burns
Summary: In the final battle against Thanos, Bucky is just trying to figure out what the hell is going on.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 20
Kudos: 185





	"Worthy By Who's Standard?"

**Author's Note:**

> It's kind of a fix-it, and it's based off this tweet I made yesterday.
> 
> "Bucky picking up Mjolnir in battle and tossing it back to Steve, because he's never seen it before and has no idea what it's deal is, and Steve is just crying, and Bucky's like "dude what?""

“Cap, it’s Sam, can you hear me? On your left.”

Bucky really didn’t need to look long to know what was going on as he stepped through the portal. He had fought in enough wars to know what a battlefield looked like, no matter where, or when, or who it was against. He had to admit this was probably the most destructive, and one-sided battle he had ever seen. What looked like millions of alien troops stood behind Thanos, who was staring blankly at the hoards of people coming through the time portals. He had to admit, it felt pretty damn cool, to be a part of that hoard. 

The novelty of the situation quickly wore off when his eyes focused on the only person left standing in front of Thanos. For as many battles as Bucky had been a part of, he had fought nearly every one of them at Steve’s side. So he knew exactly what was going on, knew exactly what Steve was doing. The broken shield strapped to his bleeding arm was alarming, as were the teammates that were scattered broken on the battlefield. 

“Steve, you absolute idiot.”

His comm must somehow still be intact, because several people across the battlefield cracked a smile, Sam chuckled over his own comm, and Steve’s eyes found him immediately, his shoulders dropping and the tears in his eyes spilling over, his stupid perfect teeth shining in a watery smile against the dirt and blood on his face. Bucky really needed to figure out what the hell had happened to them. Maybe when this was all over, if he got the chance. Fight first, ask questions later. At least this time, when he woke up and immediately walked into battle, he knew who he was fighting, and what he was fighting for. 

As they all neared closer to Steve’s side, Steve’s back straightened, and he turned to face Thanos with his shoulders down, and his chin up. “Avengers,” he shouted, as he held out a hand, and _was that a hammer?_ Definitely a hammer flying into Steve’s hand. Fight first, ask questions later, Bucky reminded himself shaking his head and turning to the enemy, because Steve said, “Assemble,” and apparently that was their cue to start fighting. _Dramatic._

Bucky switched his brain off for a bit. This part was easy. If they attack you, they're the bad guy, take them out, move on. Watch your soldiers backs, they’ll cover your six, if you cover theirs. He had to admit that his eyes stayed pretty consistently on Steve and also Sam, because the guy had really grown on him. Shuri and that spider kid were his next priority, because kids really didn’t belong in a fight like this, but they both seemed pretty well protected already. Bucky really didn’t need to think much as he shot, his aim was good, always was, even before the serum. He stayed close to Steve, and saw as Steve wielded a giant axe, which actually did look familiar. Steve and the lightning god guy (Thor? Was that his name? He hadn’t really had the time to meet him) fought well together, Bucky thought. It made him feel a little more comfortable, knowing that Steve had had someone alive to help watch his six. He watched with fascination for a second as Thor and Steve traded weapons, Steve tossing the axe back to Thor, and Thor giving him the hammer. Thor lit up with lightning (still crazy to watch) and took off, Steve running off the opposite way. Bucky killed off a few dozen more enemies, and followed quickly.

He came to another clearing, his back immediately finding Steve’s and they fought back to back, wordlessly. At one point, an alien attached his teeth to Steve’s arm, and the hammer flew back out of his hands, landing in the clearing in front of Bucky, with a very impressive crater. That sucker must be heavy. Bucky reached back with his vibranium arm, squeezing the head of the alien until it released Steve’s arm and then threw it clean out of the clearing. They finished off the aliens in their immediate area, and Steve turned at the same time Bucky did, wrapping his arms around Bucky, shaking just slightly. Bucky knew time had passed without him. He had experienced that enough times to know what it felt like. He still wasn’t sure how much time had passed. Steve looked different. Older, and exhausted, and sad. Bucky’s heart squeezed. What had this team been through while he and the others were taking a little nap. Fight now, ask questions later. 

“C’mon Stevie, pull yourself together, this is war,” Bucky chuckled weakly patting Steve’s shoulder. He turned to grab Steve’s hammer (it’s just a weird choice, Bucky wanted to know it’s story) and was surprised to find that it wasn’t heavy at all. Maybe it was vibranium too, though it didn’t look like it was forged in Wakanda. Bucky shrugged, flipping it once in his hand and turned to give it back to Steve. Steve didn’t reach for it, didn’t move, didn’t breathe. His mouth was hanging open, his eyes huge behind his mask, and was he crying again? What the hell? 

“What?” Steve just continued to stare, his mouth slowly raising into a toothy grin. “Steve, _what?_ ”

Steve shook his head, before he doubled over in hysteric laughter. He took a second and Bucky looked around uncomfortably, making sure nothing got the jump on them while Steve was having a breakdown. When Steve finally pulled it together, he motioned for the hammer, and Bucky tossed it to him, still extremely confused. “Remind me to tell you later.” Bucky shrugged. 

They were off again, to different parts of the battlefield this time, and Bucky continued to fight. Steve could handle himself, and there were other people who needed help. As if on cue, blasts began raining down from the sky, along with the spider kid, who was clutching some kind of giant glove. Bucky made a dive to get to him but was sidelined by a blast landing too close, pushing him off course, and covering him in rubble. There was a ringing in his ears, but he was vaguely aware that the blasts had suddenly stopped falling, and he heard Sam’s confusion clear over the comm.

When he looked up again, it was to see Thanos’s ship being absolutely decimated by a streak of moving light. The light stopped in the sky as the ship crashed into the water, and Bucky had just enough time to register that the glowing light was a _person?_ Steve was speaking into the comm now. The glowing person, Danvers, Steve had called her (What an incredibly normal name for someone so absolutely not normal) shot down to Earth a few feet away from Bucky and landed right in front of the kid, giving him a smile and taking the glove and suddenly Okoye and Shuri and a woman on a flying horse (fight now, ask questions later) and what looked like every woman on the battlefield was by her side. Bucky noticed quickly that Romanoff was not there, nor had he seen her at any point since he walked out of the portal and his heart squeezed again. Who else had they lost, and how many more would die before this battle was over? The thought was enough to throw him back into the battle.

He found himself next to Thor, who gave him a beaming, slightly manic grin. He said nothing other than “here hold this for a second,” before he was handing his axe off to Bucky. Bucky’s brow furrowed as he slung his gun across his back and took hold of the axe, which was also deceivingly light. Bucky stared at it for a second, and then an alien was running toward them on all fours, and Bucky didn’t really have time to react, he just swung the axe toward the alien and it sliced through the enemy easily with a flash of lightning, which looked insane and smelled terrible. Bucky felt the electricity in his veins, his whole body felt like a livewire, and it was overwhelming. He dropped the axe, his eyes wide as he stared at Thor. Thor was laughing, his belly bouncing. He looked like some manic, bloody, viking Santa Claus, which was really not a bad look.

He spoke over his comm, then still laughing triumphantly. “Steven, you were right. That’s incredible.” Bucky just picked the axe back up and shoved it into Thor’s hand, a little frustrated. 

“Right about what? Is anyone gonna tell me what’s going on?”

“Later,” Thor accepted, and then things happened very quickly. Thor’s eyes focused to a point over Bucky’s shoulder and then suddenly Sam swooped down and picked him right up off the ground, pulling him away from the god. 

“Sam, what the hell?”

“Sorry Barnes, Captain’s orders.” Bucky turned his head and saw it. Thanos stood where Bucky had been just a second earlier. Stark was laying on the ground nearby, and Thor was now going head to head with him, both the axe and the hammer in his hands now. Steve ran up from behind, latching onto Thanos’s back. 

“Guess that one is a little over our paygrade, huh?”

“Just a little.”

Sam landed them on a hill just a little ways away and then they were right back into the fight. He was unaware of the battle happening between Thanos and the other Avengers. He couldn’t see Steve anymore, couldn’t really see anything, because Sam and Bucky were back to back, and Bucky was facing away from Thanos, and Sam’s wings were fully expanded, blocking his view. 

“You’re doing that on purpose. You think I’m going to do something stupid if I see what’s happening?”

“No, I _know_ you’ll do something stupid if you see what’s happening. Gotta sit that one out, Barnes.”

Bucky acquiesced, and resumed fighting, feeling pretty well protected with the wings on either side. They fought well together, quickly learning each other’s fighting styles. They fought and fought and continued to fight until suddenly there was nothing to fight. The hordes of aliens around them just… faded. Into dust. Sam and Bucky knew exactly what that was, and Bucky’s heart squeezed again. It was eerie, and the team of Avengers left on Earth had just had to watch that happen to their friends. Now it was different. Bucky’s heart lifted. Sam was quiet behind him, and the relief was short lived. He had to see. He stepped away from Sam and stepped to the edge of the hill. 

In the clearing, Thanos was in the process of drifting to dust, his face still in shock. In front of him, stood proud but definitely weakened, was a woman with blue skin, the gauntlet he had seen earlier on her own hand. When Thanos had faded completely, the woman dropped to her knees, before keeling over completely. The raccoon that had tried to buy his arm, and the woman with green skin he had seen earlier in battle were the first to step to her aid, but Bucky could already tell it was too late. She was fading too fast. The rest of the team he had been introduced to as the Guardians, as well as Stark, joined the other two at the woman’s side, kneeling down to be closer to her, shielding her from view. 

“It was going to be Tony,” Sam mumbled, his eyes watering, either from grief, or relief, or just shock, Bucky didn’t know. It was over. “Tony had almost all the stones. Thought he was going to die right there. She grabbed the gauntlet and ripped it off his hand.” 

“Who is she?”

“I don’t know, but she looked damn determined,” was all Sam said. Bucky nodded, his eyes instantly looking for Steve. He laid about 20 feet away from the scene, Thor by his side. Steve’s eyes were roaming the crowd and his eyes were full of tears again. Bucky needed to be there. He must have said that much to Sam, because wordlessly, he grabbed Bucky under the arms and lifted them both into the air, gliding back down to the ground level. They landed silently in the crowd, and kneeled on either side of Steve. Steve wrapped them both in a hug, a real one. They didn’t pat each other’s backs, they clutched on tightly. They had lost so much, everything that was saved needed to be celebrated. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The cleanup process was bound to be intense and long and grueling. Bucky had never been a part of the “Avengers Cleanup Process,” before, but Steve promised weeks of heavy lifting, and a lot of paperwork. Tonight, though, they sat and they healed. A lot of the team had required immediate medical attention. Stark had built the compound far enough away, that the scene of the battle had not taken a single civilian casualty, which was an incredible miracle, but the great loss of their own people was being taken extremely hard, and in the face of it, their armies had returned to their own homes to heal. 

Doctor Strange (that’s a ridiculous name) opened portals for those who needed to return home. Valkyrie (Bucky really tried to learn as many names as he could) had taken the Asgardian soldiers that still lived back to new Asgard (that history was still very fuzzy. Bucky was going to need someone to write out a book of everything that had happened while he was incapacitated in one way or another.) The Jabari and the Dora Milaje returned to Wakanda, but not before Shuri rushed to give Bucky a hug and T’Challa stopped to shake Steve’s hand. They said their goodbyes, and assured that they would be in touch about cleanup and doing what they could to help the world right itself. Shuri promised that Bucky would always have his little hut by the lake if he needed it. The time sorcerers (seriously, what the hell) returned to wherever it was they came from, and the smaller teams of people returned back to their homes. Scott and Hope rushed home to see their family, as did Clint. The Guardians left, taking Nebula’s body (that was the first name Bucky had insisted on learning, as well as her story) to give her a proper funeral among friends. Danvers stuck around with the rest of the Avengers, and they all headed out to Stark’s cabin where they would set up and rest for the night. 

Stark had a small medical team, for immediate friends and family, meet them at the cabin. Steve’s arm was already healing, as were the cuts on his face, and Bucky was in a very similar boat. They covered Bruce and Tony’s arms in a weird paste, before casting them and putting them in slings, Tony complaining the whole time. The stone’s had done quite a number on them. Morgan was sitting contently in Tony’s lap, telling him to “shush while the doctors made it better.” Smart kid, Bucky thought. Sam had a nasty cut across his leg. He was bandaged, and forced on bed rest, much to his discontent. Peter (he still liked SpiderKid better) was also on bedrest, and was already asleep. Pepper had contacted his aunt the second they got to the cabin and put him on the phone, so that he could assure he was alright and he would see her tomorrow. 

Bucky sat in the corner of the living room, next to Steve, who’s leg was rested against his. Steve seemed incapable of _not_ touching him since their hug after the battle. Bucky understood, and appreciated it. It grounded him, kept him from floating away in his thoughts. When Bucky finally asked what happened, Steve reached over to grab his hand, and Bucky knew it wasn’t good. Steve explained everything, how they had been gone for five years, how they had started to lose hope, the time heist, Voromir. Bucky didn’t cry. Steve did. Losing Natasha was a blow. Sam wasn’t going to take that well, but he was already asleep and there would be time to talk later. 

When Steve finished, they sat quietly for a while, just taking in their surroundings. The cabin wasn’t lively per se, but it was light. Everyone was relieved, but the air was tinged with sadness. War was a heavy thing. It wasn’t for the weak, but Bucky had been through so much, survived so much, he was just grateful to be alive. Long standing fights seemed to be forgotten completely. Bucky wasn’t going to talk to Stark, but it didn’t really feel necessary. They had invited him in with no questions asked, because in the face of war, when you’re on the same side, the past didn’t matter anymore.

He caught sight of Thor sitting on the other side of the room, and another question struck him then. “Hey, so what’s the deal with the hammer? And the axe?” Steve smiled again, a genuine smile, and his eyes were watering all over again. 

“It means..” He trailed off, and instead just held out his hand, the hammer flying toward him and gaining the attention of everyone in the room. He flipped the hammer in his hand and handed it to Bucky so that Bucky could read the inscription. The room went dead silent other than Tony, who gave off a loud swear, that Morgan repeated happily. Pepper reached out to smack the back of Tony’s head, her eyes still fixed on the hammer in Bucky’s hand. 

“Whoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor… I don’t get it.”

“There are only three people on this planet that can move Mjolnir, as of right now. You, me and Thor himself.”

“But what does that mean?”

Steve shrugged. “Means your worthy, Buck.”

Bucky’s logical brain kicked in immediately “Yeah but worthy by who’s standards?” This caused the room to burst into laughter.

“My father’s, I suppose. You’d have to ask him,” Thor answered from the other side of the room.

“Can I?”

“Well no, he’s dead.” 

Bucky huffed out a laugh, his eyes sparkling just a little. Sure it seemed pretty ridiculous, but that was something huh? After everything he had done as the arm of Hydra, he could still be considered worthy to wield the power of a god. What a weird day. He shrugged, a small smile on his lips as he tossed the hammer back to Thor and slid down closer to Steve. It was the first time he felt peace since Wakanda, and he knew it would be short lived. Tomorrow they would all get up and begin repairing the world, but tonight he was content to just exist, at peace, safe, and worthy.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it, I just wanted to write Bucky wielding Mjolnir and not understanding why it was important, and this got away from me.


End file.
